Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Audacity of Hype?

The Audacity of Hype?: "Is Barack Obama exaggerating when he compares his campaign to the great progressive moments in US history?"

I guess we'll see, if this election fulfills its early promise to be a seachange in political power and governance.

digby at Hullabaloo: "I think the most interesting thing about the answers is the degree to which just about everyone sounds ambivalent or confused. It's a very odd array of answers from people who are immersed in politics and history and who should be able to rattle off a compelling rationale for the candidate without any problem, even if they disagree with the notion that it's a movement on par with civil rights or the labor movement. I think all of the people queried want Obama to win, but virtually none of them seem to be sure what he's going to do."

I think Obama regards his role as being to preside. He wants to be in a position to give permission for progressive reform. The right question, in Obama's view, is: "What are you going to do, when you can?"

Just like him?

Jack McCafferty - CNN: "I am sick and tired of the president of the United States embarrassing me. The world we live in is too complex to entrust it to someone else whose idea of intellectual curiosity and grasp of foreign policy issues is to tell us he can look into Vladimir Putin's eyes and see into his soul."
"George Bush's record as a student, military man, businessman and leader of the free world is one of constant failure. And the part that troubles me most is he seems content with himself.
"He will leave office with the country $10 trillion in debt, fighting two wars, our international reputation in shambles, our government cloaked in secrecy and suspicion that his entire presidency has been a litany of broken laws and promises, our citizens' faith in our own country ripped to shreds. Yet Bush goes bumbling along, grinning and spewing moronic one-liners, as though nobody understands what a colossal failure he has been.
"I fear to the depth of my being that John McCain is just like him."